A White Feather
by E.L. Ash
Summary: A little story about Innes and Tana from The Sacred Stones. Much better than it seems or not so good, you decide.


A white feather

A/N: I'm making a brother/sister, or more specifically, Innes and Tana **friendship fic.** I have no idea why I wanted to write one... probably because of all the sibling stories I've been reading. Anyway, this is a major comeback for me since I haven't written any fics for a year... or was it two...

Oh who cares, anyway, hope you like the fic!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem and related stuff...

**NO FLAMES PLEASE, I can't really handle them, it brings me bouts of depression... but constructive criticism would be nice!**

**Dedicated to Yhannen Greystone, a good friend of mine who has been waiting forever for me to update my other story. Sorry Yhannen, hope this will keep you busy while I think about what will happen in the next chapter.**

Categories: Oneshot, Friendship, Siblings, Fire Emblem (The Sacred Stones)

Rating: K+

Setting: One of the later chapters after Ephraim and Eirika reunite.

Characters: Tana, Innes, small appearances of other canon characters and an OC

Total pages: (using OpenOffice): 7 (not including the Author's notes)

Total words: 2800 (not including the Author's notes)

Time spent on making story: One day

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'Why must he always be this way!' Tana thought.

She was flying to camp astride her pegasus. Once again she and her brother, Prince Innes of Frelia, had an argument concerning her actions—a big one. Her only fault was that she wasn't careful and nearly gotten killed by a Berserker...

...Well, that and two other things: One, she almost got herself killed when three archers tried to ambush her, spared only because of the cavaliers' intervention, and two: Because of enemy Pegasus Knights she was nearly dismounted from her pegasus and would have fallen several thousand feet in the air to the stony and rough ground had Vanessa, Syrene and Cormag not come to help her out.

'Innes need not berate me all the time just because I tend to get reckless!' Tana was nearly seething with anger. Her brother told her that she might as well stay as a reserve or go back home with her current actions. Tana realized this and would have apologized to her brother if only he hadn't acted like she wasn't worth a fig in the battlefield. But then again, even when they were children Innes had always been harsh on her everytime she did something wrong or got into trouble. Innes never seemed to care for her and was never the fair, care-all-about-you older brother most other ladies of the court of Frelia seemed to have.

Which was the complete reason why she always got jealous of her female friends and relatives.

There was Eirika and Ephraim, the twins of Renais and her good friends. Their's was a relationship steep with emotional depth and understanding.

Her lady-in-waiting at Frelia, Leona, who had lost her parents to a disease and only had her brother Marcus left. Their relationship was also very strong and rarely ever did Tana see them have an argument.

A cousin of hers from Rausten, Della, a noblewoman, had three older brothers who were protective of her and always made sure she was happy.

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Tana sighed. How she longed for Innes to be like those brothers. Sometimes she wonders why on earth did the gods deem her fit to have an arrogant, cocky, holier-than-thou older brother like him.

Tana finally got back to the camp. She dismounted from her pegasus and allowed it to graze with the other steeds and walked over to where the people were.

She smiled at the youngest soldiers they had- Ross, Amelia, Ewan and Franz. They were eagerly talking about how the day's fight went.

Back where the animals were grazing she noticed Vanessa feeding her pegasus Titania and the other riders coming over to feed their steeds as well.

Everyone else was in deep conversation of various topics.

Tana slumped down near the fire where L'Arachel was talking to Eirika animatedly. Eirika, who noticed her, immediately handed her some food to eat. Before the two could share a word other than "Here's your food" and "Thank you", L'Arachel started talking with Eirika again, and, being polite, listened to her.

Tana ate her food in silence, still reeling from the reproach her brother gave her earlier.

"_Tana, you could have been killed! What is wrong with you? I never thought you were the reckless kind!" Innes snapped at her. _

"_Innes, you don't even know me that well at all! How would you know that I am or am not the reckless kind?" Tana said, anger permeating through every single word. _

"_If you were only more careful, we wouldn't need to spend effort trying to save you from whatever danger you get yourself into! Damn it Tana, you always get into more trouble than you're worth, even when not in battle!" _

"_That's judging me unfairly Innes! Everyone always ends up in trouble in battle! Everyone needs help sometimes, even you!". Those words weren't exactly her best defense since it would probably earn her a long tirade, but right now she was too angry to care._

"_Probably they do, but at least they learn from their mistakes and try not to make it again. Look at your actions today Tana... I've very well noticed that you've been in those kinds of situations before yet you always fall for them again and again. Why can't you just learn? Or better yet, with the way you are, why don't you just go home? I always keep telling you that a spoiled, pampered castle brat like you wouldn't last an hour in the battlefield and---"_

"_Oh really now? I'll have you know that in the last few battles that we were engaged in I was able to last for several hours--"_

"_--and that you need to go home and stay there! You'll just get killed while you're with us or somebody might take advantage of your naïveness!"_

"_Naive? Me? How dare you insinuate such! It just goes to show that you don't know me at all!"_

"_That again, what is with you and this "you don't know me at all" talk?!"_

"_That's exactly describing you! YOU don't know who I am! All you know is that I'm a little sister! Just another girl in your life that you could care less about!"_

And with that, Tana left in a rage, remounting on her pegasus and flew high up in the air towards camp.

Tana sighed. And then she sighed again. Now that she looked back at that argument, she saw that nothing had changed. Ever since their first argument way back when, it always followed the same pattern. Innes shouts at her for doing something wrong or getting into trouble, she retaliates, he shouts at her again, and so on until one or both of them leave off in a seething rage.

In Tana's case, depending on the severity of the argument, she could calm down in a few hours, but then she would pointedly ignore him for a few days at most.

In Innes' case, he would stay in a bad mood for several days until he finally calmed down.

Neither one of them would try to apologize to each other. Tana used to do that when she was younger, but since Innes always stayed mad no matter how her apology was delivered, she stopped.

Yes, that's right. Always the same way every single time they get into an argument.

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When L'Arachel finally decided to annoy someone else, most probably Rennac, Eirika was about to go to her tent when she noticed Tana still at the same spot, looking at the fire. She seemed to have eaten only a bit of food, and, as she looked to Eirika, seemed kind of sad.

Eirika immediately suspected that Tana's dejection was because of the argument between her brother and herself. After all, both Eirika and Ephraim knew that the only thing that could dampen the spirits of the usually cheerful Tana is an argument with her brother.

Secretly, Eirika knew the whole reason why Innes always shouted at her whenever she was in danger or got into trouble. It's because he cares about her. Possibly too much.

Every time after an argument with Tana, when Eirika looked at Innes, she always noticed that there was a very small bit of guilt in his eyes. You'd honestly have to squint but it was there. Those who did notice it never tried to ask or intervene with whatever he was going to do.

Eirika walked over to Tana and sat beside her. She put her arm around Tana and said:

"I guess this was a big fight this time, huh Tana?"

"He never, ever seems to understand me, Eirika."

Eirika smiled. Tana very much sounded like a small child in need of reassurance.

"What did Innes tell you this time?"

"What he always usually says. That I'm a nuisance to this group and that I need to go home... He forgot to add 'twiddle my thumbs waiting for your return' too."

Twin sighs came from both their mouths. Then Eirika got up and helped Tana stand. "Tana, I have to tell you something. It's high time you know about this."

"Know about what?"

Eirika led her inside her tent. Motioning for Tana to sit down, she took a seat opposite her.

"Tana, your brother cares about you, a lot." Eirika started.

"If he really does then he has a nice way of showing it." Tana remarked sarcastically.

"He does, Tana. He truly does. But owing to his personality, he can't show it like how a brother should. He can't sit down with you and have a heart to heart talk expressing his desire to keep you safe."

"No, Eirika. Innes has no care for me at all. He just thinks of me as an obligation. He keeps me safe because it's his obligation to. He just wants everything easier for him so he always gets angry at me when I don't go home right away. He doesn't care nor does her love me like how most brothers should."

"The way you phrased that seems childish. You shouldn't be that way Tana."

"Please Eirika, I've had enough of people chastising me."

Eirika sighed. She looked into Tana's eyes and could immediately tell that all discussion was over. So she said: "Tana. Please think over on what I said. I tell you the truth. Innes really does care and he loves you too."

Tana didn't hear the last sentence. She was already outside.

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The next day they had to continue on their journey. And yet again they had another skirmish.

"More monsters up ahead, a whole horde of them!" Syrene announced from above.

"To arms! Get ready to fight everyone!" Ephraim shouted.

Everyone immediately readied their weapons. Monsters were appearing nearly everywhere. At least the morning fog was clearing and they could see each other and their adversaries better.

Tana dived down to take a strike at one of the Mogalls. She deftly thrust her spear into it's eye and immediately slain it. She then rose up to the air again and studied her position.

Everyone was fighting and winning. The group quickly dispatched most of the monsters. However, Tana noted that there seemed to be even more monsters coming. She immediately set to attack again.

The minutes turned to hours and the hours dragged on, but finally, they were able to win the fight.

As Ephraim gave the order to regroup, Tana flew down and started walking towards the assembly area together with her pegasus.

Unfortunately she didn't get too far.

Sanguine droplets rushed out of her back[1 and around her legs. She was ambushed from behind by a (wolf). It's sharp claws dug deeply into her skin.

"Tana!"

Tana saw Innes immediately grab his bow, knocked an arrow, aimed, and shot the (wolf) on top of her.

The impact of the arrow sent the (wolf) flying off her. The last thing she saw before she fell unconscious with blood loss was that Innes was rushing towards her, with Eirika and Ephraim following behind.

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"Damn it!" Innes shouted.

He was inside a tent, where Natasha was seeing to Tana. Earlier all three healers were there, but after they confirmed that Tana was far from a critical condition, Moulder and L'Arachel went out to tend to the others, Natasha staying behind to make sure she was all right.

Innes was so mad that he had to force himself to not give into the impulse to punch something.

_When he heard Tana's cry, he looked over and his heart nearly stopped beating._

_A (wolf) was on top of her. She couldn't attack because she dropped her lance and she was facing the ground._

_Innes pulse was racing. With no other thought than to save his little sister he immediately grabbed his bow._

_Knock arrow. Aim. Shoot._

_The (wolf) was down in seconds. He rushed over to Tana and noticed that she was unconscious. What was worse, she lost a lot of blood. He immediately called the healers, surprised at his own panic-stricken voice._

"Damn it Tana. You always have to mess things up. You never listen to me. You..." Innes muttered under his breath.

He looked over at his now sleeping sister. She looked very peaceful and so very innocent. It was hard to believe that she was a skilled fighter the way she looked now, huddled in the covers, seemingly having a peaceful dream.

He sighed. Every single time he tells his sister to go back home she never does listen. It had been going on ever since she was six and he was eleven. Innes could simply not understand why Tana wouldn't listen to him. And now look. She was earlier on the verge of death. If only Innes hadn't acted quickly she would be dead by now.

"Prince Innes." Natasha said while standing up from her sitting position beside Tana sleeping figure. "I need to go. I must help the others..."

"Alright." Innes nodded. "Are you sure Tana will be fine?"

"Yes. She is now resting—quite well I might add. Though I think she'll have a bit of a hard time trying to stand up and walk."

"Very well." Innes walked over to his sister, surprising Natasha by saying a very heartfelt thanks.

As soon as Natasha exited the tent, Innes sat down beside his sister and looked at her. He remained silent and just watched her.

A few minutes passed and Tana stirred. Innes noticed this.

"Are you all aright, Tana?" Innes asked.

"Unh." She rubbed her eyes. "Innes?"

"Tana, are you all right?"

Tana just stared at him. She didn't respond for a while, thinking about all that happened between them since yesterday. She was still kind of mad when she remembered how Innes had ruthlessly assessed her recklessness, she was still reeling from the argument. How Innes had called her naïve. How he told her to go home and not come back.

But then she remembered that it was Innes who saved her life. But then again, as she explained to Eirika before, that was probably his obligation to, since their father would deeply be devastated if she were dead.

But then again, Tana hadn't really thought that. She was angry when she told Eirika about it, but she wanted to believe that she wasn't an obligation. That Innes really wanted to protect her as a brother would a sister. The way how Ephraim constantly tries to keep his sister from harm.

Tana briefly looked back at all the times she had an argument with her older brother. And realization struck her to the core. He _did _care about her. Not only care, but he did love her as well. The way Ephraim loved Eirika, the way the brothers of her friends loved them.

"Innes...I'm all right. I'm fine."

"Thank the gods." Innes surprised her by pulling her close and hugging her tightly.

"Innes?" Tana said uncertainly.

Innes released her and looked at her.

"Innes... I... About yesterday..."

"It's all right. Tana."

"No, it's not!" Tana shouted, tears filling her eyes. "Innes... I guess I finally realized how much you do care about me. I guess I really am acting like a spoiled child. A child who wants to get everything that she desires. With no care about the people around her."

There was a long silence after that. Innes mentally fidgeted. He didn't exactly know what to say. But then he decided on something.

However before he could verbalize his idea, Tana took matters out of his hands.

"Innes. Maybe I should go back to Frelia."

Innes stared at her. Then looked away. Then he said:

"Tana. If you want to come along with us you can. You don't need to go back to Frelia. If you want to see this journey to the end then you can come with us. As long as you tone down your recklessness."

"Innes? You mean it?" Her face lit up like a torch.

"Yes. I mean it. I realize that I can't stay as the overprotective older brother I always am. You are now old enough to take care of yourself. Tana. I'm sorry for always being harsh on you. For nagging you in a condescending way."

"Innes...I...Thank you. I'll try to be better next time. I promise that I will stop being reckless. I suppose I was doing it to prove to you that I was a great fighter, that I would do much better helping everyone on the battlefield rather than staying home. Innes. I never thought I could think of you like this, but... you ARE the best brother a girl like me could have."

"And you are quite the handful. But it matters not. I'm still quite glad to have you as my only sister."

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A/N: First, you'll see there was a [1 up there. It means:

[1: Blood came from the cuts that the (wolf) gave her. I knew it was easier to say "Blood rushed out her back" but I just gave into my impulse to type sanguine instead.

Second, I thought of a lot of different endings to this fic, but decided on the ending of the fic right now. I know this ending might seem anti-climactic. But then again, my brain's fried and my muse isn't inspiring right now.

I know the feel of the story shifted a bit, but then again I can't help it. I might repost this after I've worked out a few things, make this story better.

Once again, I'd like to remind people that I can't handle **flames** well. Constructive criticism however, is well appreciated.

Hoping for some reviews!

\\ReverieLaniaAsh//////////


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